Another new series
from a popular Scandinavian author. This time it is Arne Dahl, with a new line
destined to become a popular addition to his catalogue if Watching You is
anything to go by. Though I do harbour hopes that the new series won’t threaten
the wonderful A team series, especially the jazz-loving Paul Hjelm.
Watching You introduces Detective Sam Berger, yet another Swedish tec
with a difficult background including the traditional failed marriage and a
wife and twin boys who have sought pastures new in the States. It is easy to
understand how the marriage failed as Berger is not an easy to like character
and even his colleagues find him something of a cold fish. But they have come to
accept his failings, and as the chapters of this book roll on so too will
readers.
As the book develops,
Berger is becoming obsessed with the disappearance, more likely the abduction,
of a 15 year old girl. He has backtracked through records of similar disappearances
of 15 year old girls in recent years and is certain they have a serial killer
on their hands. The problem is that his superiors won’t accept that serial
killers exist in a Sweden defined by Social Democratic ideology. That being the
case, Berger has to pursue his investigation largely without support from his
police colleagues.
Nevertheless, it is
Syl, the team member who specialises in databank and other digital searches, who
turns up photos of a blond woman with a bike at the crime scenes relating to
the missing girls. They track down the identity of the woman and arrest her.
But the interrogation serves to overturn all Berger’s optimism when they
discover they have captured Molly Holm, an undercover member of the Internal
Security agency. Berger finds himself under arrest, with Blom now asking all
the questions.
Blom is as much of a
loose wire as Berger. Her investigations too have been conducted without the
knowledge of her superiors. She has found the number of missing girls is
greater than Berger realises. She also suspects that Berger is involved in their
abductions. She was at secondary school with Berger and believes the abductions
stem from an incident at the school.
Despite their
distrust of one another they decide to co-operate in their search for the missing
girls. But to do so they must both disobey the orders of their superiors, face dismissal
from their respective positions, and become “rogue” investigators pursued by
their erstwhile former colleagues. Such are the twists and turns which comprise
the opening sections of Watching You.
As the chapters unfold the story continues to present surprise after surprise,
and Berger and Blom find themselves in a truly labyrinthine search for either
the girls or their killer. For fans of
Arne Dahl this is one not to be missed.
